"Ratings from Guests" demands huge improvement.

[Lido1]

Airbnb should make "Ratings from Guests" more specific/accurate for hosts to know what to improve.

For example, I saw I got a 3 star rating for Arrival. How can I know what really happened and how to improve this rating if I have NO clue what guest rated me 3 stars for Arrival and the reason why? Also a guest must give a specific example of what happened to justife giving such a low rating. I put keys in a lockbox outside my building and send complete instructions to guests to access keys. Sometimes I really can't be waiting for a guest that said he/she would arrive at 4pm but in reality arrived at 7pm as a consequence of a road trip delay.

Many guests do NOT verify their check-in time as well. My check-in time starts at 4pm. So they can't give me 3 stars just because they wanted me to start their check-in earlier. They booked my listing which clearly shows 4pm for check-in time. I have guests almost every day and I need time to go back home and clean all before a new guest checks-in.

I would really appreciate if Airbnb requires guests to  point out an example of a situation that justifies them to give a specific rating for each category.

Another guest i.e. complained about heat in her bedroom. My suite faces West so it's sunny all day indeed. Before and during her stay I asked her many times if she wanted me to install the Portable Air Conditioning in her bedroom. She said it was not necessary so I didn't. Then when I read her review she says she didn't like the fact the bedroom was very warm at some nights? How can I rebate to this if I asked her if she wanted me to install the AC for her? Honestly this gets me mad because I put a lot of time and work to make my guests have a great experience. Then you receive a naive review which you can't fight back.

Also many guests take forever to write a review. They do it many days after their check-out date. So how accurate and honest their reviews can be if it took them so long to do it?

I find that guests also should have their RATINGS to become public i.e. this guest is a 5 star guest or a super guest etc. So hosts also can verify them. It feels like hosts are very vulnerable but guests have more power to come and go as their ratings aren't public as listing's rating is.

[Yuriy1]

I agree 100%. How can we improve if we don't know which guest rated us low in their respective categories and why.  Furthmore I don't think it's frair that guests rate their hosts in 7 different categories where as host only rate guests in 3 categories. 

[Karen77]

I think Airbnb needs a "Best Guest" designation just like there's "Super Host" for those who are opening their homes

[Sandra126]

@Karen77, maybe put this idea up on Host Voice? Top left on screen under Discuss. Airbnb is looking for new ideas and that is where to post them.

[Melanie58]

I have been mulling over this same idea, and not how sure it would work since each Airbnb is an independent entity - but as Mariotts have Gold and Platinum etc members, I think it would be awesome if guests that travel say 10 nights a year with Airbnb or something and also maintain a certain status in reviews could be given some kind of perk, whether it is a discount on rooms or what it would be, I do not know. 

[Ira4]

@Karen77 I agree. Would you share this idea in the Host Voice? 

[Ged0]

I agree with you 100% and I feel your pain!

This is a message I sent on the Airbnb Feedback page (so of course it will never get read ...)

"I'm hoping this will reach a Real Person, who will give me a Real Answer!

We have consistently received 5 and the occasional 4-star review since we began hosting 3 months ago. However, a recent guest gave us ONE star for Location. We do not know who this was, but it clearly didn't affect their overall experience as these have ALL been 5 stars.

We make it very clear in our listing that we are in a quiet, tranquil location but it is NOT on public transport and we strongly recommend hiring a car. You will of course understand that a one star for location means that the location is absolutly terrible and the guest would not recommend anyone to go there! This hardly describes our beautiful tree-filled hillside estate!

My suggestion therefore is 2-fold:

1. You should give more information to guests about what the star ratings actually mean, giving examples from 5 to 1.
2. If there is clearly an outlier in the star reviews (e.g. 15 5-star and one 1-star) the host should be able to discount the outlying review in overall statistics (for instance towards Superhost status.

You must be aware that the "Location" rating is a source of great disatisfaction among hosts as it is the one thing that they absolutely cannot change. You can improve your welcome, cleanliness standards and communication, but you cannot move your home 500 metres nearer to the beach! If what you want to imply is: does the location match up to what is described in the listing, I think you should make this clear to guests. If I said that my listing was peaceful and quiet and in fact it was at the edge of a busy main road, this would be a legitimate reason for marking it down. If I say it is tranquil and quiet and not on public transport, it should NOT be marked down for not being in the city centre near shops and bars!"

Well, let's see if I get an answer ...

[Ira4]

@Lido1 I agree on what you say.  Another issue I would add is rating for Overall Experience. I have discussed with some other hosts who told me that they got a low rating on O.E. because their guests could not cancel their previous booking in another listing or because their plane had a delay, because the taxi driver tried to cheat them in money or because the historic monument of city was closed due to a strike. 

As you understand, none of these reasons was relating to the listing or the host. 

What I would ask Airbnb (and I will write it in Host Voice, if it is not already mentioned) is that Airbnb could open a window on the screen of the guests just before they start writing a review, which will inform/remind them that the review and rating should be ONLY about the specific listing and the specific host and not about Airbnb's services or about any other issue of their travel. 

They can also be told that they will be given an additionary questionnaire or rating list to complete about Airbnb's services and maybe about their trip and the place they visited ( I am not sure if trip and place are necessary to be mentioned to Airbnb, but maybe in that way the guest would be satisfied that he told his complaints to someone and at the same time it will not affect the host

unfairly.) 

Anyway, @Lido1, good luck with everything!